


Hail to the King

by norcumi



Series: Nurturing Nature [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Animal Transformation, Don’t copy to another site, M/M, Partial Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-25 08:51:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18257924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/norcumi/pseuds/norcumi
Summary: Chaos continues to spread through the GAR's ranks, and Captain Rex Has A Day.





	Hail to the King

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I tried to keep everything gen, but I cannot resist a good joke and there were too many available if I gave in and did my usual shipping shenanigans. ^_^;
> 
> Meanwhile, [this was my main reference pic](https://www.deviantart.com/arvalis/art/Saurian-T-rex-Infographic-556213086), provided via OutcastTrip1995 who continues to be awesome!

Rex shivered as he hustled back into their current base. The sole reason it really felt warmer inside was that the thick walls kept out the biting winds. He couldn’t swear the locals piped in cold air, but he wasn’t about to wager any credits one way or another. 

It was a mixed company of 501st and 212th on planet, the Generals trying to negotiate the locals from neutral to for the Republic. Meanwhile the troops were trying to deal with cleanup from the actual battle, as a goodwill attempt to sway the locals. 

It wasn’t a cakewalk, but at least no one was shooting at them anymore. 

He hesitated when he got to the Officer’s quarters. He was off shift, pretty damn exhausted in the first place, and everything was _almost_ on the up and up. Most everyone was bunking down in groups, in an attempt to keep warmer. Cody, Rex’s first choice of bunkmate in these conditions, was keeping things running up on _The Negotiator_ , the lucky bastard. The lower ranked officers planetside were either huddled together in one of the Officer’s rooms, or spread out amongst the men just in case. Skywalker had serious personal space issues, and didn’t do well with cold, so he’d opted to bunk down in his Aethersprite, using its heaters and the Force to keep warm.

That meant Kenobi and Rex were both without bunkmates. 

Rex _could_ have joined any number of groups – the 501st didn’t pay much attention to strict divisions in the ranks even on what passed for a normal day. Kenobi was the kind of idiot who nine times out of ten would just make do on his own with the Force and sheer idiotic stubbornness. 

It wasn’t that Rex objected to bunking down with General Kenobi. No, the problem was the exact opposite. They’d been circumspect, observing almost all the regs as closely as possible.

Just...not the one about fraternization. It made Rex twitchy to consider flaunting those cautionary measures, but at the same time there was genuine plausible deniability. 

It really was that damn cold. Just...how plausible was it _really_ , and did it make things riskier later on? After all, Rex had seen how the holonet could treat even a whiff of scandal, let alone the real thing. 

He dithered over it all the way to the room Kenobi had claimed, but in the end he slipped inside. Kenobi glanced up from the datapad he was reading inside a small nest of blankets and cloaks, then smiled. “Everything settled down for the night?” 

“It better be,” he mock grumbled, shedding armor as quickly as possible. When he was down to just the undersuit, he hustled for the blanket nest, Kenobi rearranging the whole thing around them both while Rex was still trying to get settled. Normally he’d consider ditching the undersuit too - or Obi-Wan would help, making the point moot - but it was way too damn cold for anything other than cuddling. 

He grunted as Obi-Wan shifted impossibly closer, but after a little bit of squirming around to avoid wayward elbows and knees, Rex was curled around a grinning Jedi. “Hope you’re not planning on using that datapad more,” Rex said, well aware that he had Obi-Wan’s arms restricted in the hold – not intentional, but he wasn’t going to complain. 

There was a telling pause, then a resigned sigh. “No,” Obi-Wan muttered, not-so-subtly setting the pad aside.

The cold had to be getting to him too: it was almost never this easy to drag the Jedi away from his work. Well, good thing Rex and his brothers had been engineered to deal with inclement environments better than the standard human. It had the added bonus of putting out a lot of heat, and he could hear a soft sigh as Obi-Wan finally relaxed against him. 

Rex let himself fall asleep to the quiet noises of a sleeping Obi-Wan, enjoying the opportunity to keep his Jedi close. 

* * *

Obi-Wan slept surprisingly well, given how Rex seemed to be having a restless night. There was far more tossing and turning than usual, but it only woke him enough to try to send vague reassurances through the Force. There was never the true agitation of nightmares, just restlessness that never quite seemed to settle. 

It felt like morning when he rolled over, snuggling closer to the living radiator that was Rex. He was already on his way towards awake as he became aware of a tickling sensation against his face. It was too steady to be insects, too persistent to be a prank, but it made no sense. 

Obi-Wan opened his eyes with a vague sense of miffed curiosity. He expected to see Rex, something off with the blankets, or someone pulling an odd prank. Instead he found himself looking at a bunch of wispy dark feathers. 

...what? He sat up, trying to process what he was seeing. 

Instead of Rex, there was a large figure curled up next to him. It was on the humanoid side, reptilian, height impossible to calculate given how it was balled up. The actual size was even harder to guess, given that the feathers along much of its skin were fluffed up against the cold, leaving a large mass of mostly dark floof next to him. 

A shiver worked through the mass of feathers, then a long, large head lifted out of the center where it was well obscured. The snout was rough-scaled skin, with pale feathers topping the crown and trailing down the back to blend into the darker feathers. The...lizard creature? - blinked at him, then revealed an alarming amount of sharp teeth. “Obi-Wan? What’s wrong?” 

Oh. Oh _no_. The voice was unquestionably Rex’s, though a bit deeper than normal, verging upon a particular tone he didn’t tend to use much - it was less for the roughness of morning and instead for more... _intimate_ moments. 

Shit. This had to be the thing. Plo’s thing. Obi-Wan tried to calm himself enough to wake up properly, but all he could do was stare as the – the _being_ rolled to their feet. The pale crest lifted some, while most of the feathers slicked down enough to reveal a form that was vaguely Trandoshan. Clawed feet with a raised heel, long tail, and clawed hands certainly seemed to fit, though the feather coat made for an odd look, especially with the thicker fringe along the arms. The snout and heavy ridges protecting the eyes were textured scales instead, as was most of the tail – the tip of which kept flicking back and forth like a hunting feline’s. 

That movement seemed to catch -- Force, he might as well make the mental leap -- It seemed to catch Rex’s attention, eyes sliding away from Obi-Wan to instead turn to look behind himself. The twitching movement stopped and feathers slicked down hard, then that snout opened again. “Please tell me this is some kind of hallucination.” 

For all the depth to it, Rex’s voice sounded strangled, rife with something near panic. Obi-Wan allowed himself a quick moment for several deep breaths. They couldn’t both panic about this, and _he_ wasn’t the one who had changed. “I’m afraid I couldn’t lie to you, Rex.” 

That earned him quite the look. “For once, I wouldn’t mind you embellishing half-truths or hyperbole.” 

Obi-Wan returned an affronted expression. “Have I mentioned lately that your friendship with Satine remains terrifying?” 

If he was judging the expression correctly, Rex’s grin was amused and wry even if weak. It was also full of a great many large, sharp teeth that looked to be perfect for rending flesh. 

The weak grin vanished swiftly enough, and the pale feathers atop Rex’s head lifted back to what he thought was neutral or curiosity. “You know what’s going on?” 

“You recall that vague request we made, for anyone to report strange findings to their General?” 

Rex shot an incredulous look down at himself. “I think turning into a fluffy Trandoshan deserves more than a vague request!” 

“If that were the case, then I would quite agree with you.” Obi-Wan dared to shift closer, moving slowly to reach far up to place a hand on Rex’s shoulder. He flinched a bit at the contact, but to Obi-Wan’s relief he didn’t pull away. “Unfortunately, matters are a bit more complicated than that.” 

“Aren’t they always,” Rex grumbled, listing a bit as if he were trying to lean into Obi-Wan’s touch. Given that Rex was now both taller and bulkier, that would not have ended well – thankfully he stopped before matters came to a head. 

Well. At least he could do something about that. Obi-Wan gave a gentle tug, pulling Rex back to the blanket nest. They couldn’t curl up together the same way, but at least now there could be some physical closeness. 

“No one’s sure yet exactly what’s going on, but some of the troops have had unusual transformations. We’re investigating, but so far the only results are that something very strange has happened with their Force signatures and….” 

“And?” 

“Well, that part makes even less sense, because it can’t be some kind of virus. The transformations all seem to be, well, related to puns.” 

An incredulous look from a Trandoshan’s relative was...different. “Puns?” Rex sounded both dubious and insulted. “What do you mean, ‘puns’?” 

“Let’s just say you’re luckier than the Wolf Pack, because you still have thumbs.” 

He blanched. “ _Fuck_. Is – is this permanent?” 

For the men’s sake, he certainly hoped not. “Since no one’s heard of anything like this, we suspect not. A temporary change, particularly if someone could hide it, would fly further under the radar than a permanent one.” 

Thank the Force, Rex took the reassurance as intended, rather than reading deeper to ‘we have no fucking idea.’ Oh, Obi-Wan had no doubt Rex knew it, but they both needed the reassurance right now. 

Obi-Wan dared to reach up and gently scritch at the base of the blond feathers Rex now had. He froze at an unexpected rumble, Rex’s eyes dilating then going to half mast as he slumped down. Oh. Oh dear. He bit back a grin that was only a smidgeon hysterical and resumed scritching. “This all right?” 

Rex’s groan was something more appropriate for _busier_ activities. “That shouldn’t be an actual benefit.” 

“Indeed,” he said, dry and trying very hard not to be both amused and charmed. 

Rex eventually sprawled out next to him, pressed close and allowing Obi-Wan to continue to scrub his fingers through the thick feathers. The more relaxed he got, the more the feathers seemed to puff out, leaving thick blond fluffs at the edges of his jaws, along with the illusion that he had something stuffed in his cheeks. 

Obi-Wan had mostly calmed down himself when Anakin burst in the door. 

“Obi-Wan, we have a _serious_ problem, because it looks like – ” 

It was a horrible moment that verged upon the absurd. Obi-Wan was on the floor, still sleep-mussed. Rex was sprawled next to him, massive head almost in Obi-Wan’s lap while the Jedi’s hands were deep into the feathers along his jaw. Anakin had that harried look of someone dragged from poor sleep to deal with a crisis, and now they were all wide-eyed and staring at each other like nerf before a rancor. 

_Fuck_. 

“ _What_ are you doing?” Anakin asked. Their expressions must have been quite something, because he waved away any excuses before they could be sputtered. “No, not the what are you and Rex doing in the same room thing, I know about _that_ , I meant the….” He gestured vaguely in the air, fingers crooked into a scratching motion. “You know, instead of _telling me Rex got hit with the change_.” 

Wait, Anakin _knew_? 

This looked to be as much a surprise to Rex, who scrambled to his feet. “Sir?” he yelped, or as close to it as he now could. “I – I’m not sure I follow, General!” 

Anakin rolled his eyes. “Oh please. Rex, when it seems like half the 212th and a good chunk of the 501st are attempting to pipe mood music through the ducts to get you two to stop pretending you’re not utterly gone for each other, you can’t think I don’t know! Meanwhile, do I _look_ like I have the time to give a lecture, because I don’t. Just...keep on trying to keep it on the lowdown from the rest of the Council. _Meanwhile_ , we have important things to do, like report in that the 104th’s thing spread here, because oh yeah, Tup’s having the same issue as you, Captain!” 

* * *

Rex wasn’t sure if Obi-Wan was going to keel over from shock (which...wasn’t unwarranted), yell, or possibly spontaneously combust from embarrassment. He couldn’t quite figure out how he felt about anything himself, so he focused on the important thing. “Tup changed too?” 

Skywalker nodded. “Not the same way, but yeah, this definitely counts as a situation on our hands.” 

Obi-Wan always did do better with a direction to run with, rather than just a crisis striking. “Indeed.” He stood up, faking a smile with less skill than usual. “Just give us a few minutes to get presentable, and then it’s time to make a call.” 

Skywalker nodded, then looked back to Rex. “Hey, we _will_ find a solution for this, all right?” 

He appreciated the attempt at reassurance, and while it didn’t leave the lassitude of Obi-Wan’s scritches, it was warming. “That’s appreciated, General.” 

Skywalker smiled and clasped him on the shoulder, but he hesitated instead of walking away. “You really thought I didn’t know?” 

“Anakin, some privacy, please?” Obi-Wan snapped, even as a flush made that weird feathery prickle ripple up Rex’s cheeks. Skywalker stepped away, hands up in surrender and only smirking a little. 

“Right, I’ll just send Echo out to find more pants alternatives if you two can’t jury rig anything. I’ll see you at the comm center!”

Rex groaned and tried to facepalm. Didn’t work too well, but it really was about all he could do. It was nice not having to hide, but ye gods, there were more than a few people that were going to be _insufferable_. 


End file.
